Shoe-grip



W. DE VITO.

SHOE GRIP.

APPLICATION FILED JAIL-22. 1920.

1,361,969, Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHOE GRIP.

Application filed January 22, 1920.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM DE Vrro, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dorchester, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe- Grips, of which the following is a specifi cation.

This invention relates to improvements in shoe grips, especially for shoe shining stands. More particularly it relates to apparatus for holding steady, while it is being rubbed. The object of the invention is not only to accomplish this useful purpose, but also to fit a shoe of any size, to make a wide and easy place for the patron to put his foot, to provide means for automatically correcting the position of the foot on the rest and holding it there securely; and also to produce the improvements which in other respects characterize the apparatus herein disclosed. The invention may be applied in various forms. one of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing. It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 8 is a plan of the attachment embodying the invention which forms a part of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4: is a front elevation of said attachment and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same showing the side opposite to that seen in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, indicates a rest suitably arranged for a shoe shining stand to support the foot of a person, wearing a shoe which is to be polished. This has a base 11 and heel notch 12 as usual for the invention, as illustrated, may be applied to any such existing rest. For that purpose it is shown attachable and detachable with respect to the rest although obviously it might be made integral therewith. As illustrated, there is a plate 13, adapted to be se cured to the rest on its upper side by screws 14: which pass downward through the sides of the toe part of the rest, thereby avoiding all conflict with the devices for supporting the rest, which as customarily installed in Specification of Letters Patent.

the shoe of the patron Patented Dec. 14:, 1920. Serial No. 353,206.

shoeshining stands throughout America, have a central bottom support for the rest which extends backward and forward filling up the space in the middle underneath the rest. This is an important feature, inasmuch as previous ideas proposed for shoe grips have required the manufacture of a special shoe rest adapted to receive whatever device has been proposed, or else, in the case of an attachment, have required free space under the ball of the foot for the re ception of the attachment, whereas the shoe rests commonly found in use have no such free s1. ace. To this end, the plate 13 herein described is not only adapted to be fixed on the upper side of the toe plate, but is wedge shaped or tapering, with the converging surface of the wedge directed toward the heel part of the rest at an angle such that the top surface of the plate, if continued, would meet the top surface of the foot rest somewhere between the plate and the heel. thus forming a comfortable and secure support for the under side of the shoe not\vitl1 standing that it is built up above the surface with which the shoe rest is provided, and to which the device of the invention is to be attached. The said plate 13 herein described has a lug 15 rigid with it and rising one-half to three-fourths of an inch or so high on one side. This is preferably on the side which is at the left hand of the operator who is working on the shoe, and constitutes one jaw of the shoe grip, which jaw thus is there rigid with the base 11. The other jaw 16 is movable toward and from the jaw 15. It has a shank 17 which extends along a dovetail groove 18 on the un der side of the plate 13 at the inner end of which shank is a hole to which is fastened a flexible cord 19 which passes on to the farther side of the plate 13, around a smooth curveor pulley 20 under the fixed jaw 15 and thence down to a spiral spring 21 which is attached to the lower part of the base 11. When the jaw 16 is spread from the jaw 15 the spiral spring is stretched and is ready instantly to pull the jaw 16 back when released. The shank 17 has a slot 22 through which passes a stud 23 whose head 24 is on the top side of the plate 13 and is so shaped as to engage that plate and to be non-rotatable therein. While any device may be used for that purpose the device illustrated consists in having a square portion 25 of the stud set within a square hole in the plate. The part of the stud which is below the shank 17 of the jaw has a screw thread and carries a knurled nut 26 which preferably has an elongated sleeve or tubular portion 27 which carries the screw thread so that the head of the nut extends to a convenient distance below the rest, which may be three inches or so, to a place where it is conveniently grasped and turned by the person who is to shine the shoe. The stud extends still farther, and has a hole 27 in which may be a removable ring, cotter pin or other barrier to prevent the nut from being lost off. When the nut is screwed tight the shank 17 is held rigid, and with it the jaw 16.

In operation, and when a person is about to place his foot on the rest, the operator pulls the movable jaw out against the spring and with a turn of the nut fastens it wide open. The person whose shoe is to be polished then places his foot on the rest, be tween the jaws; and the jaws areopen so wide that no degree of care is required. Ordinarily such a person will put it somewhere in the middle between the jaws. The operator then with a fractional turn of the nut releases the extended jaw, whereupon the spring promptly draws it against the shoe and pushes the shoe over against the fixed jaw. This automatically adjusts the grip to the size of shoe, and places the shoe in the position which it ought to occupy while being polished. The operator then with a fractional turn tightens the nut and thus holds the shoe securely in this place.

Inasmuch as the men who do the polishing ordinarily work mainly with the right hand, and brush toward the left, it is preferred to make the rigid end of the jaw that one which is at the left of the operator. However, the other member of the jaw, being held both by the spring and by the nut, is sufliciently strong for rubbing in the opposite direction. WVhen the polishing has been completed the foot may be simply li ed out; or preferably the operator may release the nut and thus leave the jaws free or even may spread them to make the removal easier.

I claim as my invention 1. A shoe grip comprising a rest for the shoe having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw adapted to hold the shoe between them against lateral displacement from the rest and means comprising a cord attached to the movable jaw and a spring attached to the cord to draw the movable jaw against the shoe.

2. Shoe gripping mechanism, "comprising a fixed and a movable jaw oppositely disposed and adapted to engage the edges of a shoe sole to hold a shoe between them; means supporting said jaws, guiding the movable jaw, and adapted to be itself supported on a foot rest; and a flexible elastic tie attached to the movable j awand adapted. to be attached to the foot rest, tending to close the jaws.

3. Shoe gripping mechanism, comprising a fixed and a movable jaw oppositely disposed and adapted to engage the edges of a shoe sole to hold a shoe between them; means supporting said jaws, guiding the movable aw, and adapted to be itself supported on a foot rest; and a single screw clamp at one side of the foot rest projecting downward and adapted to clamp the movable jaw in position.

4. A shoe grip comprising a rest for the shoe, a plate separable therefrom and adapt- 'ed to be fixed thereon, jaws on the plate adapted to be set at varying degrees of opening to hold the shoe on the rest and means for attaching the plate removably to the rest, one of said jaws being dovetailed with a sliding fit on the under side of the p ate.

5. A shoe grip comprising an attachment for a shoe rest having jaws adapted to hold the shoe against lateral displacement therefrom, and having a flat surface on which the foot may rest, one of the jaws being movable in a groove below said surface; a stud having a head engaging said surface and passing through the rest; a nut on the stud adapted to be screwed thereon and to engage and press said jaw against the under side of the top part of said rest, thereby clamping the jaw in position on said rest.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this twenty-first day of January, 1920.

WILLIAM DE VITO. 

